Football: Cards rout Bears

Updated 10:52 pm, Monday, October 2, 2017

Greenwich’s Jeremiah Harris makes an interception during the Cardinals’ 48-0 defeat over the Bears in Greenwich on Monday.

Greenwich’s Jeremiah Harris makes an interception during the Cardinals’ 48-0 defeat over the Bears in Greenwich on Monday.

Photo: Chris Palermo / For Hearst Connecticut Media

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Greenwich's Tysen Comizio braces for impact from Norwalk defense during the Cardinal's defeat over the Bears in Greenwich, Conn. on Monday, October 2, 2017.

Greenwich's Tysen Comizio braces for impact from Norwalk defense during the Cardinal's defeat over the Bears in Greenwich, Conn. on Monday, October 2, 2017.

Photo: Chris Palermo / For Hearst Connecticut Media

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Greenwich’s Gavin Muir makes a pass during the Cardinals’ 48-0 defeat over the Norwalk Bears in Greenwich on Monday.

Greenwich’s Gavin Muir makes a pass during the Cardinals’ 48-0 defeat over the Norwalk Bears in Greenwich on Monday.

Photo: Chris Palermo / For Hearst Connecticut Media

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Elias Gianopoulos just misses a pass during the Cardinals’ win over Norwalk in Greenwich on Monday6.

Elias Gianopoulos just misses a pass during the Cardinals’ win over Norwalk in Greenwich on Monday6.

Photo: Chris Palermo / For Hearst Connecticut Media

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Norwalk's Kyle Gordon looks for an open man during the Greenwich Cardinal's defeat over the Bears in Greenwich, Conn. on Monday, October 2, 2017.

Norwalk's Kyle Gordon looks for an open man during the Greenwich Cardinal's defeat over the Bears in Greenwich, Conn. on Monday, October 2, 2017.

Photo: Chris Palermo / For Hearst Connecticut Media

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Norwalk’s Kyle Gordon rushes the ball through Greenwich’s defense during the Cardinal’s 48-0 defeat over the Bears in Greenwich on Monday.

Norwalk’s Kyle Gordon rushes the ball through Greenwich’s defense during the Cardinal’s 48-0 defeat over the Bears in Greenwich on Monday.

Photo: Chris Palermo / For Hearst Connecticut Media

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Norwalk's Marlon Brown Jr. is tackled by Greenwich's Tyler Blizzard during the Cardinal's defeat over the Bears in Greenwich, Conn. on Monday, October 2, 2017.

Norwalk's Marlon Brown Jr. is tackled by Greenwich's Tyler Blizzard during the Cardinal's defeat over the Bears in Greenwich, Conn. on Monday, October 2, 2017.

Photo: Chris Palermo / For Hearst Connecticut Media

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Greenwich’s Tysen Comizio attempts to get through the Norwalk defense during the Cardinal’s 48-0 defeat over the Bears in Greenwich on Monday.

Greenwich’s Tysen Comizio attempts to get through the Norwalk defense during the Cardinal’s 48-0 defeat over the Bears in Greenwich on Monday.

Photo: Chris Palermo / For Hearst Connecticut Media

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Greenwich's Tysen Comizio attemps to get through Norwalk defense during the Cardinal's defeat over the Bears in Greenwich, Conn. on Monday, October 2, 2017.

Greenwich's Tysen Comizio attemps to get through Norwalk defense during the Cardinal's defeat over the Bears in Greenwich, Conn. on Monday, October 2, 2017.

Photo: Chris Palermo / For Hearst Connecticut Media

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Greenwich's Gavin Muir attemps a pass during the Cardinal's defeat over the Bears in Greenwich, Conn. on Monday, October 2, 2017.

Greenwich's Gavin Muir attemps a pass during the Cardinal's defeat over the Bears in Greenwich, Conn. on Monday, October 2, 2017.

Photo: Chris Palermo / For Hearst Connecticut Media

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Greenwich's Gavin Muir hands the ball off to Spencer Hartley during the Cardinal's defeat over the Bears in Greenwich, Conn. on Monday, October 2, 2017.

Greenwich's Gavin Muir hands the ball off to Spencer Hartley during the Cardinal's defeat over the Bears in Greenwich, Conn. on Monday, October 2, 2017.

Photo: Chris Palermo / For Hearst Connecticut Media

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Norwalk's Kyle Gordon is taken down by Greenwich defense during the Cardinal's defeat over the Bears in Greenwich, Conn. on Monday, October 2, 2017.

Norwalk's Kyle Gordon is taken down by Greenwich defense during the Cardinal's defeat over the Bears in Greenwich, Conn. on Monday, October 2, 2017.

Photo: Chris Palermo / For Hearst Connecticut Media

Football: Cards rout Bears

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GREENWICH — It didn’t take long for the Greenwich High football team to light the scoreboard against Norwalk Monday night and it can thank its special teams for the lightning fast start.

A blocked punt that was ran in for a score and a long punt return set up two touchdowns in the opening 3:05 of play for the Cardinals, who cruised to a resounding 48-0 win over visiting Norwalk in an FCIAC matchup.

Behind its special teams, Greenwich (3-0), which received a stellar defensive effort throughout, took a 6-0 lead. Junior Gramoz Bici blocked a Norwalk punt, following a snap that bounced, and junior Matt Davey picked up the ball and ran it into the end zone, giving the Cardinals a 6-0 lead with 10:51 left in the opening quarter.

Strong special-teams play paid off for Greenwich after Norwalk’s second drive.

Junior Stephen Bennett returned a punt 36 yards to the Bears’ 4-yard line. The next play, junior Jack Warren scored on a 4-yard run off right guard. Senior Zach Moore kicked the extra point, making it 13-0 with 8:55 left in the first quarter.

“Special teams has been doing that all year for us,” GHS coach John Marinelli said. “John Woodring, our special teams coach, does a great job with the kids and special teams is something we really emphasize. This is the third week in a row that special teams was our best phase of the game.”

Falling behind 13-0 with Greenwich only running one play stunned the Bears early in the game.

“Against a tough team like Greenwich you can’t give them free passes and we did that all night long,” Norwalk coach Sean Ireland said. “They blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown, they returned a punt to the 4-yard line — defensively, I thought we played pretty good despite the score, but those are points early in the game we gave them.”

Paced by sophomore running back Jakari Walker, Norwalk (2-2) drove to the GHS 32-yard line, but its drive stalled in the second quarter. Senior receiver A.J. Hall also helped the Bears move the ball a bit before the Cardinals’ defense stiffened, courtesy of a sack from Bici and a tackle resulting in lost yardage by junior defensive end Emilio Camou.

“They put up zero points against us, so we’re happy about that,” Camou said. “We were flying to the ball and gang tackling. They tried a lot of reach blocks, but we were prepared for that and we were getting outside of them.”

On the ensuing possession, the Cardinals drove 68 yards in seven plays to increase their advantage. Junior Tysen Comizio’s 43-yard run on a play that saw him cut to the left and dash down the left sideline put the home team ahead, 20-0 with 3:08 still left in the first quarter. The hard-running Comizio gained 139 yards on just 11 carries.

“A.J. Hall on their team is a really good player, so we knew we had to keep an eye on him,” Harris said. “Hall and Elliott are their two main targets and we did a pretty good job of keeping the ball out of their hands.”

Taking over at the Bears’ 35 after the interception, the Cards needed seven plays to reach the end zone. Quarterback Gavin Muir, a junior, snuck it in from five yards out, then Bici added the conversion run, putting Norwalk in a 28-0 hole at the 9:19 mark of the second quarter.

Senior wide receiver Jael Negron ended the opening half in spectacular fashion catching a Muir pass, breaking a pair of tackles and reaching the end zone on a 34-yard play as time expired in the second quarter, giving GHS a commanding 35-0 advantage.

Due to Greenwich’s big lead, the second half went to running time. Muir’s 26-yard pass to Saleeby keyed Greenwich’s 66-yard drive to start the second half, which was capped by Comizio’s 13-yard scoring run.

Meanwhile, Norwalk’s drives were consistently halted by the Cardinals’ defense.”

“Every time we hit a big play there was a holding penalty or an illegal block penalty,” Ireland said. “It’s very frustrating, but we’ll come back and be ready for next week. We also couldn’t handle their front four. We had guys open, but their front four gave us problems.”

Said GHS senior linebacker Robert Lanni: “Our special teams played great, our defensive line did a great job of getting to the quarterback and our linebackers were filling in where necessary. We focused on playing assignment football.”

The shutout was the first for Greenwich during Marinelli’s tenure.

“I’m happy for coach (Bryan) Hocter, he works hard with the kids,” Marinelli said. “It gives the team confidence that we kept them out of the end zone. When it got to third down, we got off the field.”